Christmas has arrived!

We had four different countdowns this year until the big day.... and it finally arrived!

 

Here's how it all went down:

 

Christmas Eve Morning we awoke to a nice breakfast, then suited up in our warmest gear for the annual hockey game at Joe's grandparents.

 

 

Maria tested out her new ice skates for the first time, and LOVED them! She didn't want to go inside! After only about 20 minutes, she was skating all by herself.

 

 

Then we roasted hot dogs and visited with some extended family.

 

In the evening, we went to mass to celebrate the reason for the season, then headed to grandma and grandpa's house for a nice supper and playtime with the cousins. We were so excited to have our newest cousin, Jackson, join us for his first Christmas!

 

 

 The evening concluded with opening gifts, the highlight of the night for the youngsters!

 

 

Christmas day arrived...and so did Santa! The girls enjoyed opening their presents very much. Then we got ready and headed over to the other grandma and grandpa's house for a yummy lunch and more presents! (and lots of play time with auntie's kitty, Pandora)

 

It was an amazing Christmas, that of course went by way to fast. We are so blessed to have family so close to celebrate with (and enough room to store all the new toys! :)

 

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas! Enjoy this Christmas season and Happy New Year!

 

 

It's beginning...

to look a lot like Christmas!

 

The snow storm sure helped it feel more wintery outside!

 

 

We had a busy fun-filled weekend to get us in the Christmas spirit:

 

Friday, Maria had her very first Christmas program at school. She knew all her songs and did an awesome job! We were so proud of her. She had lots of family cheering her on that night too!

 

 

Saturday, we celebrated the second week of the Advent season with two different masses at church followed by a Christmas Ugly Sweater Party. (Joe's sweater even had lights!)

 

 

Sunday, we awoke to a beautiful snow fall and tried to stay off the roads as much as possible. After picking up the girls from Grandma & Grandpa's house, we spent lots of time playing in the freshly fallen snow! Sledding, shoveling, snow angels, oh my! We were excited to end the weekend with a Christmas party for Joe's work, but because of the wintry weather, the party got cancelled.

 

 

That's ok.. I'm perfectly content cuddling up with my sweet girls in front of the fireplace and watching Christmas movies tonight instead.

 

Now we are just patiently waiting the arrival of our newest niece or nephew in the next few days!

 

Yay for December fun days!

Is it December already?

 

The cold has come, the ice is on the lake, the tree decorated, stockings hung...

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! My favorite time of the year.

 

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But what have we been doing up until this point?

 

The past few months have been busy with all of the fall activities. Halloween was a success as we trick-or-treated at the county fair grounds. It was a perfect location, without driving from house to house for the girls to fill up their buckets with candy.

 

 

The girls and daddy have very much enjoyed feeding the deer outside our living room window and watching them eat every night.

 

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Daddy had a successful hunting season this year at his grandpa's land south of here, and Ems sure enjoyed seeing the deer up and close.

 

 

A perfect baby shower took place for my sister-in-law who is due in the next couple of weeks. It was a fun morning with a classic Winnie the Pooh themed shower and lots of family to visit with.

 

 

Thanksgiving was very enjoyable with two big meals. One at my parents and one at the in-laws. We are very thankful for our wonderful families that live close so we can enjoy both sides in one day!

 

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Emma got her first haircut ever in November! (well at least I tried to give her one... gramma Sue had to fix it!) Emma has also been busy playing with her several babies that she has to carry all over the house. She also enjoys dressing up in dresses and dancing (mostly in circles) to music. She seems so grown up already!
 

 

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Maria has been enjoying her first year of preschool very much. She goes three days a week and is currently preparing for her first Christmas program taking place next week. She has been learning lots of letters and having fun making letter sounds and telling us what everything starts with! She also enjoys playing princess and making "projects."
 

 

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The day after Thanksgiving, we took our annual trip to pick out our Christmas tree and cut it down. We had received a nice blanket of snow a few days before, so it was beautiful at the tree lot, even though the wind was not so comforting. We found the perfect tree...even after lots of distractions from a super crabby young lady! 

 

 

Decorating the house followed. We even put up lights on our house for the first time since moving in three years ago! Shopping is done...presents are wrapped. We are ready for Christmas!

Hope you all enjoy your December!

Are you excited...

for fall?

 

These kids are...

 

And that was before the caramel apples,

 

 

 

jumping in the leaves,

 

 

and picking pumpkins!

 

 

 

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall days! We sure are! Happy FALL!

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

First Day of Preschool

 

Goals

Goals are very important to me, and this summer I set lots of them:

 

1. Transform Emma's Room from Neutral to Girly

       

         

2. Dresser Re-Do

Dresser Before

Dresser After

 See my inspiration here.

3. Hair Clip Holder



 

Old Picture Frame Before

Clip Holder After

 See my inspiration here.

4. Potty Training my little monsters.

5. Running my first 5K.

I'm happy to say, I have accomplished all of them!!

(ok... #4 I have one girly down and one almost there...!)

 

But overall, I'd say it was a productive summer!

 

 

Here's to new goals for the new school year!

Whose Birthday Is it?

"MINNIE MOUSE!"

(That was the typical response from Miss Emma every time we asked her it.)

-No, it's Emma's birthday! How old are you?

"Three!" 

-Nice try, but you are two! :)

We were blessed to have a beautiful Sunday afternoon to celebrate this cute girl's second birthday. We were surrounded by lots of family to share in on this special day.

Emma was full of energy. She was running around and smiling and screaming (in a good way!) laughing and being silly.

The party was a Minnie Mouse Party. If you have ever watched the new "The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," you would know the closing song goes, "Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog!" So lunch  of course was a Hot Dog bar with lots of different toppings including chili, bacon & blue cheese, corn salsa, among others.

The plates & napkins even tried to fit into our theme.

Then came the presents. Ems really wasn't all that interested in the gift opening, but I did catch one smile during the process. And of course, even though she didn't find opening the gifts all that exciting, she sure is getting a lot of use of all her new things since Sunday.

And Emma's favorite part of the day... the cake!

 Happy 2nd Birthday Emma!

Vacation!

This past weekend, we went on our first official vacation as a family! The girls were great! Here's what we did...

We left Thursday morning for our drive to Taylor's Falls. Since it was raining most of the day, there wasn't much to do with the girls there. We ended up finding a petting zoo called Fawn Doe Rosa. The girls LOVED it! They got to pet deer, baby skunks, goats, llamas, and sheep. They also go to see a fox, lynx, raccoons, a hedgehog, wood chuck, several farm animals, elk, and a grizzly bear! We were also chased by geese a good part of the time!

 

We were planning on spending the night in the area of Taylor's Falls, but because of the rain, we decided to drive up north to Ashland, WI a day early. We arrived at our hotel around 9pm, and the girls insisted that we visit the pool. So we went swimming! It was a late night, made even later by a certain little girl that did not like to stay in her bed a bedtime. It was after midnight before we were sleeping.

The next morning, after a morning swim, we made the short trip to Bayfield, WI to check out the parking and ferry out the Madeline Island for the following morning. Joe & his dad were going to be doing an inline skate marathon around the island. It was a beautiful little town on Lake Superior. The girls were pleased, because there was a nice park to play at. So that is where we spend the majority of our morning! :)

The rest of the day included a nice Mexican meal, a nap for daddy and Emma, and exploring the lake shore for the rest of us. Maria loved playing in the water and throwing sticks in and watching them float out. The evening concluded with a take out meal and another round in the pool.

Saturday was an early morning to say the least. The guys left around 5:30 am to drive and catch the first ferry. We packed up all of our stuff from the hotel, checked out and were out of the hotel by 6:45 am to catch the last ferry. The girls like riding the boat. It was a beautiful morning!

At 8:30 am, the guys took off on their 17.4 mile race. They had to skate around Madeline Island two times, which is just over a half marathon. They thought this would be good practice for their full marathon in September in Duluth. Joe ended up place 13th in his division and 1st place in his age group! Way to go Joe!

After the race, we headed back to the mainland for lunch and of course, some ice cream!

Then it was back in the car for another long car ride back to Minnesota. I drove, while the other three napped and eventually we made it to our next stop, Brainard. We found an open hotel and quickly unpacked and headed out for the girls' first round of mini golf ever at my favorite mini golf course, Pirate's Cove! Maria enjoyed playing. Emma enjoyed searching for the pirates and throwing her ball in the hole! :)

Last thing of the night, a little race car driving.

Sunday morning we awoke to a nice Father's day breakfast at the hotel. Then we were off to Paul Bunyan Land. What a great place for little kids. The girls enjoyed their time there very much! They were a little scared when Paul Bunyan was talking with them, but other than that, it was a great day!

 

We then made our way to one of daddy's favorite restaurants, Buffalo Wild Wings, for a late lunch. We enjoyed our lunch and daddy got to watch the Twins, so he was of course happy. It was a great way to end our vacation and Father's Day!